


Tending to Wounds

by actualcheetah



Category: Shazam! (2019)
Genre: Billy Batson Doesn't Trust Easily, Billy Batson Was Abused As A Child, Billy Batson runs away a lot, Child Abandonment, Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Past Sexual Abuse, Sexual Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-13
Updated: 2019-09-20
Packaged: 2020-08-20 13:41:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20228782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/actualcheetah/pseuds/actualcheetah
Summary: He was only four years old when he was sitting on a cop car, being told by an officer that his mom would come back for him, thatthey always did, when he saw her turn away from him and walk off, leaving him.





	1. Again

**Author's Note:**

> Before you read, I just want to warn everyone, this story will be much darker than the original movie script. I understand that Shazam is supposed to be a lighthearted and playful superhero movie but i really wanted him to be a sad boi.
> 
> This first chapter will have a lot of mentions to past physical and sexual abuse to a child. If that makes you uncomfortable, please do not read! I don't condone any of the things mentioned in this fic so please don't come at me, okay?
> 
> I am not profiting off of this story in any way or claiming rights to any characters.
> 
> If you like this story, drop a kudo, bookmark, and/or a review!
> 
> And lastly, enjoy!!

William "Billy" Batson was only four years old when his mom lost him at the Carnival.

He was only four years old when he was sitting on a cop car, being told by an officer that his mom would come back for him, _that they always did_, when he saw her turn away from him and walk off, leaving him.

Billy was only four years old when the cops had to take him to an orphanage, because his mom never came and got him, and began the cycle.

He was only four years old when he decided he didn't need a family if his real family didn't want him. He's bounced between foster homes so often, after that, he doesn't bother remembering names or faces but he remembers experiences.

The first place is a couple with four kids of their own and he only remembers the family so well because they had a problem with being clean. Billy can still smell the molded and rotten food that was left to fester on kitchen counters.

He remembers the couples oldest kid, a pregnant seventeen year old girl with dirty skin, pink and green hair and so much metal in her face, he still doesn't know how her skin never ended up getting pulled off. He only ingrained her looks into his mind because she snarled at him, with her black and crooked teeth, to get out of her way. When he didn't move fast enough, she kicked him and he went tumbling down a flight of stairs, ended up with a broken arm, a fractured jaw, and a concussion.

The pain consumed him and he was gone from his bed by the next morning.

When the officers asked him what happened, he stayed silent the entire way to the hospital and they didn't ask again. Thankfully, they didn't send him back to that house.

The second home was a single dad with two boys. This house didn't smell like rot or mold or anything really. It was always clean, never a speck out of place, and that made the hair on his neck stand on end. He lasted there three weeks before leaving at night, after he watched the father grab his eldest sons crotch while he licked his lips and stared at Billy. He didn't know what that gesture meant at the time but he knew it wasn't a good one.

A cop picked him up seven blocks from that house and took him back to the orphanage building when they couldn't get any words out of him. A day later, his social worker told him the family reported him missing but she never sent him back there.

He didn't even last three days at the third house. He was slapped so hard, he broke his wrist and fractured his freshly healed arm when he hit the wall and ended up losing one of his baby teeth. At the hospital, the doctors reported the family to CPS and again, cops took him away.

He doesn't remember the next six familes after that, all he really knows is that he left them before they could see how broken he was and get rid of him. He'd caused problems and picked fights and ran for a multitude of reasons, any he could come up with just so they wouldn't miss him; he was tired of the foster parents with kids of their own looking at him with pity because his own parents didn't want him; they talk to him slowly because he doesn't talk much so they think he has mental problems; the kids at every school he winds up at avoiding him like he carries a disease that will make their parents not love them; he didn't like dinner that night. Some nights, he runs because he has a lead on where his birth mom is and he needs to see her. Not so he can cry into her arms and beg her to take him back, but so he can flip her off and tell her to eat shit and die for _abandoning_ him at a carnival with police instead of handing him over to the system like a responsible human being.

He runs away the same night he arrives in the tenth house because he sees the man punch his daughter in the stomach when she asks for money.

For two years, nobody takes him from the foster building, orphanage, prison, whatever. For two years, he has a bed to sleep in at night and doesn't have to worry about corrupt people who only keep him because they want something out of him. 

Billy is ten and already planning his escape route from the eleventh house, barely stepping over the threshold of the home, when he gets a sick feeling in his gut and feels eyes on him but brushes it off. The woman who runs the group home is really nice, _sickeningly_ so, and wraps Billy in a hug so tight, he's _so_ tempted to melt into her arms and stay here, no more running. He stays for seven weeks with nothing out of the ordinary happening; nobody hurts him, nobody threatens him, nobody looks like they want to eat him, and nothing on where his mom might be. He's no longer suspicious of this place and enjoys sleeping in a bed longer that a week, in a room all his own. It's at this moment that he learns he can't trust _anyone_, no matter how friendly they are. _Especially_ if they're overly friendly. Those are the dangerous ones. As he gets older, this lesson gets ingrained into him so badly, he can barely sleep the first week anywhere that isn't under a bridge or in a pile of trash behind a fast food joint. But it's in the that hellhole some people would call a house he _learns_ that lesson the hard way.

He's awoken because his body is hot and tingly in a way he's not familiar with and before he knows it, he's panting heavily and feels the pressure in his lower stomach dissipate. When he looks down, he finds out why.

The woman he thought was so sweet and nice and perfect, is settled between his legs and licking something off her fingers and Billy. He screams. He screams until she gets off his legs and kicks her in the face, screams until his throat bleeds, screams until he's in the yard and keeps screaming until the cops show up. He doesn't know what she was doing to him but he knows he doesn't like it.

He is raped by the foster brother in the next home. He punches the other boy hard enough, the next night when he tries to touch Billy and he breaks the boys nose as well as his eye-sockets and he fractures his own wrist.

The three homes after that are nice people but he can't force himself to stay because last time he was with 'a nice person', he screamed so long, he ruptured a vocal chord.

Billy is pinned to a table by the foster mother of the sixteenth foster home and she shoves something up his ass, keeping him strapped to the table for seventeen hours before he manages to escape and report her to the police and CPS.

The next six houses after that are uneventful because he leaves the same night he's brought there, living on his own for weeks between each time the system tracks him down again.

It's eleven years since he was abandoned at the carnival and he still doesn't like cops because they always find him and take him back to the foster building where he inevitably ends up with another abusive family that he still doesn't need. He didn't need the first one he ran away from after his mom abandoned him and he didn't need the twenty-third one. He's standing in front of a pawn shop, alarms blaring and trying his best not to look like he's pulling a prank, when the cops show up. They look at him warily at first, and why wouldn't they? He's a little shit and he's the only one in the vicinity. So he decides to be an even _bigger_ shit and gets this star-struck, awe filled look on his face.

"Holy moley! The boys in blue! I'm so glad you showed up! I called as soon as I saw!" He's being overly dramatic and he knows it. The cops know it too because they still look at him with suspicion in their eyes, so he spoke again. "Yeah, they're still in there! At the back." He points inside and towards the back of the store and finally, _finally_ they go inside the store, turning the alarm off while they look around. As soon as their backs are turned, Billy's face turns from _I'm meeting my hero this is the best day of my life!_ to _I want to be anywhere that isn't here_ in less than a second.

As soon as they're at the back of the shop, he jumps up and grabs the security gate, yanking it down and kicking the lock into place. He yanks on it to be sure it's locked just as the cops start shouting and then he's grinning at them like the shit-eating child he is. He runs over to the police car, ignoring the male cops demands for him not to get in the car, and immediately he's on the laptop, clicking away on it until he pulls up what he wants. He pulls his notebook from his backpack and scribbles down the address that the screen shows. He scoots out of the car and waves at the cops with a cheeky little grin at their yelling before taking off down the road and towards the address he found.

An hour later finds Billy in front of a house that _has to_ belong to his birth mom because she's the last 'Batson' in Philadelphia. There are more out there, he knows there are more than likely thousands more across the United States, but he doesn't live in those states so he'll have to make due with the ones here. He clenches his jaw so hard, the fracture that he got as a four year old, that never healed right, ached and throbbed.

Billy stepped up to the door and dug his fingernails into his glove covered hand as his fingers tightened to a fist before he knocked on the door, foregoing the doorbell in favor of feeling his knuckles hit something heavily so he could restrain from socking the woman who left him. He heard a voice call out through the door and sucked in a deep breath. "Hi, is this Rachel Batson?" She confirmed through the door and he shifted nervously. "This is gonna sound crazy but I think I'm your son." Try as he might, he couldn't keep the hopeful lilt out of his tone and physically deflated when a woman, who was very much not his mom, opened the door with the most utterly confused look and a suspicious tone in her voice. He apologized for bothering her and stepped away from her door just as the cops pulled up and now they were doing the whole thing over again.


	2. Introductions

Billy is sitting in front of the woman, E.B. Glover, who runs the place where the cops always take him back to when they find him. He doesn't like calling it 'the orphanage', that makes him feel even more unwanted than he already knows he is. His own mom didn't want him, so why would some strangers who don't have an obligation to him want him? He's just starting to tune out her words, not speaking if he doesn't need to, when she says something that sets him off.

"You've run from homes across six counties, Mister Batson. From... good homes and good families who want you, in favor of someone who, arguably, _does not_-"

"'Good homes and good _families_'?" Billy snaps from his seat in front of the woman, slamming his palms down on the armrests of the chair he was slouching in. "Not all of them were, _are_, good people! They reported me missing and you assume they're good people?" He huffs and slouches back in the cushioned chair, arms crossed over his chest with the expression like someone pissed in his corn flakes. "I'll admit, some of them were amazing people and I _do_ regret running from them, but I couldn't risk anything happening to me again, like when I was eight!" He doesn't bother arguing about his birth mom, she doesn't need to know why he's looking for her, before kicking her desk. He physically has to keep himself from grabbing the smiley face mug in front of him and launching it at the wall when his foot doesn't break the sturdy wood like he was hoping. When she opens her mouth to ask what he means, he never told anyone about what that lady did to him and mentioning it was his own mistake, he glances out the window of her office and changes the subject.

"Who are they?" Billy's making eye contact with the woman, who's smiling at him so openly and kindly, he has to look away. His eyes lock on the man and he's smiling just as kindly, though much more subdued. "Who the fuck _are_ they?" He whips his head back to Missus Glover and stands, jaw clenching. She simply sighs and stands with him, not bothering to scold him for his language, walking around the desk to sit on the edge of it. Even perched on the wood, she is still taller than him but he doesn't feel like she's looking down on him.

"They want to take you in, William." His eyes lock with hers at his real name, not his nickname, before swiveling to the kind looking couple. "They run a group home. They were both foster kids themselves so they understand what you're going through." She said from her place in front of him and Billy had to refrain from scoffing and rolling his eyes. He seriously doubted either of them understood what he's gone through. "Give them a chance before you decide they're not good enough. You're out of options."

"I don't need someone to play make believe with! I can take care of my Goddamned self."

"When you're eighteen, yes. But until then, you can't. I won't have you wind up on the streets." Missus Glover always had a way of calming Billy down with her soft voice and calming personality, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. He resists the urge to shrug her hand off of him, he doesn't like being touched, especially by people who are being too nice to him, and simply nods.

He slumps down and snatches his backpack off the ground, slinging it over his shoulder with an extra flare of angry sass to show Missus Glover he is _not_ happy with this development at all. Before Billy can leave the small office, he feels a hand grip his and glares at the social worker over his shoulder. He's not mad at _her_, not really, he's just _mad_. Mad at the situation, mad at being touched by someone who damn well _knows_ he doesn't like being touched - she's been his social worker since he was four, he's never really _liked_ it, just dealt with it -, mad at the fucking cops for bringing him back here, mad at this couple he knows he won't be with for longer than a week before he's kicked out or runs away.

Billy yanks his hand from her grip and stuffs his hands into his pockets, resisting the urge to get his phone out and fiddle with it so they won't speak to him. Instead, he glares at the ground and doesn't respond to their greetings or questions. He simply trails behind them to their vehicle when they can't get him to talk and hops into the backseat, tossing his bag into the floorboard and slumping against the van's door, staring out the window with bitter disdain. When the couple, Rosa and Victor Vasquez, both get into their seats and look at him, Billy glances at them from the corner of his eye and watches them with clear distrust before continuing to glare out the window. He ignores their attempts at humor and stays silent. Maybe if he stays quiet enough, they won't even notice when he leaves.

They pull into the driveway, some twenty or thirty minutes later, of an old two story house that looks like it's seen better days. Billy grabs his bag from under the seat where it slid to during the drive and hooks a strap over a shoulder. He keeps his face a mask of neutrality when he steps over the threshold of the house and is embraced with the scent of cinnamon and apples and what could be considered something burning but he can't quite tell if that's food or candle. The lights in the house are plentiful but dim, bathing everything in a soft golden color that makes his shoulders relax, if only marginally.

He's glancing around at everything with a cautious, wary eye, looking for anything that might be considered a weapon to be used against or by him and mapping escape routes in his head if these two turn out to be like nearly every other house he's ever been in, when he hears shouting from the living room. His first thought is _Wow, I only lasted five minutes in this house and they're already fucking screaming at each other._ and he's getting ready to turn tail when he sees Rosa smile fondly in the direction of the yelling and inform him that that's just Eugene, playing his video game. He swallows thickly and when he looks again, he can see the headphones and a head peeking over the top of the couch and the tips of feet peeking past the armrest. 

He's still looking in the direction of the living room when he hears foot steps and suddenly has arms wrapped around his waist, Victor and Rosa warning the small child to slow down. He has to physically restrain from shoving the girl off of him, even after she's been introduced twice and he can _clearly_ see that she's a hugger, and is about to push her off fucking _anyway_, because his skin feels like it's boiling and crawling, when she releases his waist. He rolls his shoulders, which are hiked up to his ears once more, and bites his cheek when Eugene screams at his video game. Billy tries not to let it effect him, it reminds him too much of previous homes where he was just a paycheck to people or a punching bag, but before it can, the small one, Darla if he remembers, is dragging him over to the dining room where a poster is sitting under two large weights She's off-handedly mentioning something about someone wanting to get "swole" or something like that while she tugs on it and, while he could help her move them, he decides not to because he's an actual asshole, then she rips the poster, sadly handing him the piece. He takes it without a word and stares at it.

Another teenager, practically an adult, walks into the room while he's staring at the purple and sparkly paper and talking on the phone. Billy tilts his head while she talks with an _overly_ enthusiastic voice to whoever is on the other side. His confusion at her voice must show because she puts the phone on mute and answers the question he didn't ask. He nods and shuffles when she introduces herself but doesn't bother offering a name in response. There'd be no point, considering he's hoping to be gone before the sun even rises and she's already talking again, so it wouldn't've mattered anyway. She brings out that voice again when she repeats the college interview peoples question before looking between Rosa and Victor. Billy feels his eyes roll before he can stop himself, head shaking as he looks away from her when she spiels something about being a foster kid and finding family and friends and some other bull he knows she doesn't really believe because she just wants into this college. She smiles so she must've impressed them with her fake answer before shes first bumping Victor and running away, the foster parents watching her go with sad smiles and offering an explanation to yet another question her didn't ask.

Darla is talking again - he's beginning to realize she does that a lot - and asking if he likes vegan food and telling him about how much she loves animals, when the smoke alarm starts to go off and he breathes a sigh of relief when she runs away from him, eyes following Victor as he runs after his foster daughter and exclaiming about eating real food. He's tempted to stay and help with the tofurky, or whatever it is that Darla calls it, when Rosa laughs at the duo and waves him along, towards the stairs. Dread builds up in his gut when he steps on the squeaky staircase. He doesn't like being up or on stairs but he swallows the bile in his throat and continues after the woman. He makes no attempt to speak to Pedro, as the other boy is introduced by Rosa and doesn't bother speaking to him either. Of all of them, so far, Pedro is his favorite.

Billy suspects that Rosa and Victor have been told about his history with abusive homes, because she makes a point to slow down and let Billy in front of her. He doesn't know if this is intentional or not, but he's thankful because at least he doesn't have to worry about being shoved backwards. Once on the second floor, he shifts to the side and glances at Rosa who takes the lead once more and opens a door for him. The first thing he noticed is the bunk bed and makes a face. While he wasn't expecting his own room, not with the amount of kids the Vasquez's have, he was at least hoping he didn't have to worry about his bed being attached to someone else's. He holds his breath when he feels a hand on his arm that slides to just between his shoulder blades and has to force himself not to duck out of Rosa's grip. If he wasn't so fucked up, he might consider this to be a comforting gesture. She must feel the tension in his muscles because her hand drops and he can breathe again.

"This is Freddy. Freddy, meet Billy Batson." She introduces the two boys. Freddy swivels around in his chair to look at Billy and he drops his eyes to the floor. He's far from submissive, especially with a kid that looks like a strong breeze could knock him down, but this isn't his room, isn't his home, and hes not in the mood to try and play a game of dominance. Rosa goes on to tell Freddy not to be weird but that doesn't stop the boy from sharing an honestly disgusting but interesting fact about the Romans. It causes a small, but genuine, smile to come to his face. Rosa must not see it because she just nods in a way that shows that she's too polite to show her disgust in her foster son but that she was expecting it, before patting Billy on the shoulder and leaving the two alone.

As soon as the door is shut, Billy is peeking out the window and Freddy is warning him that its farther than it looks. When he looks over, Freddy is standing and leaning heavily on an elbow crutch, and telling him not to fall for their nice act, that they're actually monsters and they're responsible for his leg. It takes everything in him not to bolt from the house then and there. His fear is obvious from the way Freddy snorts and waves his sick joke away before getting serious again.

"That was a joke. It's... It's cancer. Terminal. I only have three months." His face is so serious and upset that Billy actually kind of feels bad for the other boy but, once more, he laughs it off as a joke before making a jab at himself about being a disabled kid in the foster care system. Billy doesn't share his enthusiasm in the joke, and can feel a dark storm cloud forming over his head the longer he spends in this house.

Before he can even throw his bag onto the top bunk, he was hoping for the bottom but Freddy has very clearly claimed it, he's being dragged to Freddy's dresser and being shown a Battarang (along with an off color joke about being able to kill him in his sleep that has Billy taking a good two steps away) and a drawer of Superman stuff. Including a bullet that the other boy dibs as being real and worth five or six hundred dollars. Billy feels his eyes widen at the easy admittance and he deems Freddy as _way_ too trustworthy of strangers. Which also explains why hes grabbing Billy's bag and questioning what he has in it. 

He yanks his bag out of Freddy's hand and steps backward, away from the kid with way to much trust. He doesn't bothering opening his mouth to snap at the kid, who's thrown his hands up in surrender and spewed out an excuse on "respecting his boundaries", and just turns on heel, storming out of the bedroom to the nearest bathroom. He yanks open a door and sighs in relief that it was in fact the bathroom, since no one bothered showing him, before plopping himself on the lip of the tub. He unzips his bag and pulls out the notebook, thumbing through the pages with a distant, far off feeling of remorse and anger, before launching it into the trashcan. Billy feels a small fraction of satisfaction when the notebook nearly tips the small wicker trash can over. After a moment, he growls and digs it out of the trash and buries it back into his backpack, not needing anyone in this house picking it up and using it against him. He sits another five minutes in the bathroom, debating if he can squeeze out the tiny window and survive the two story fall before they come looking for him but decides against it, before standing up and exiting the tiny room just as Victor calls everyone for dinner.

By the time Billy gets downstairs, everyone else has gathered at the table with a single empty chair at the end, next to Darla and Victor and across from Freddy. His fist tightens on the bag strap when he notices all of them are looking at him, and he gets the strong urge to run away once more. He wonders if this will be how he'll feel everyday until he ends up leaving. Not dwelling on the thought, Billy slowly makes his way to the empty spot. He hangs the bag off the back of his chair and sits down, eyes not leaving his plate. He flinches, small enough it just looks like he's shifting to get comfortable, when Victor thrusts his hand forward and calls 'all hands on deck' and again when Rosa leans past him to include her hand but he knows they all saw it, aside from Eugene and Darla who've only ever been with these two.

Billy keeps his hands tucked and folded on his lap after everyone has put a hand into the middle of the table, eyes glued to the wooden table as if it's the most interesting thing in the world. They clearly don't expect him to join in because no one bats an eye when Victor does a short, rhyming prayer thing before leaning back. Once everyone is seated and he doesn't feel so crowded, he shakes his head with a minute eye roll and starts to eat. He's still so mad that he can barely manage to choke down a few bites of food before the table gets cleared. Neither his foster parents or siblings say anything about how small his appetite is, he thinks maybe it's because they can relate to being somewhere new and surrounded by strangers but he also thinks maybe it's because they don't care, and he isn't asked to help clean up or do dishes so he grabs his bag and books it up the stairs. Billy barely makes it to the upstairs bathroom before he's kneeling in front of the toilet and throwing up everything he's eaten that day, his stomach and jaw muscles aching so badly by the time he's done he thinks he broke something. Instead of getting up to rinse his mouth out and go to bed, Billy simply shuts the toilet lid, props his arm on top of the plastic, slumps against his arm as he flushes away his dinner with closed eyes.


	3. Twelve Hours

Opening his eyes and seeing a toilet was not Billy's ideal way to wake up, especially when his stomach, jaw, and now neck all ache in different ways from the position. He slowly sits up, cringing at the feeling of bile on his tongue and what feels like every single bone in his body popping at once. He slowly shuffles over to the sink, pointedly avoiding his reflection, and sticks his head under the faucet to try and rid his mouth of the vomit taste.

Once his mouth no longer tastes like the bottom of a trash can, he won't admit it aloud but he does know what that tastes like, he pulls his phone from his pocket and checks the time, cringing at both the brightness and the hour. It's just after five in the morning, though he knows he'll never make it into the room and into bed quietly enough not to wake up Freddy. He doesn't particularly care about waking the other boy, he just doesn't need the pestering he's sure will come with his late arrival into the room.

With a sigh, Billy makes his way out of the bathroom, not remembering locking the door but thankful that nobody could storm in on him, and heads downstairs, halting in front of the alarm panel that's in the entrance hall with the main door. He pops the small door open and looks at the bright red numbers, his lips pursed as he thinks about how he's going to leave with this in place. He's about to just book it out the door, uncaring that he'll set the alarm off, when he hears someone clear their throat to his left. His head snaps to look at whoever is awake and makes a face at Mary. She's dressed like shes ready for bed and he realizes she must've used the downstairs bathroom since he was asleep in the upstairs one. 

He makes no move to hide what he's doing or make an excuse, she'd see through it anyway if her foot tapping and disappointed mother look are anything to go off of. He rolls his eyes instead and snaps the panels little door back up before walking past the eldest foster kid, dropping himself onto the couch next to where he throws his backpack. Mary follows him, as if she thinks he'll jump out the window when he back is turned, and sits in the barcalounger caddy-corner to where he's at, eyes burrowing holes into his head.

"Less than twelve hours and you're trying to run away?" She questions him, after a minute if silence. Billy shifts further down in the seat and pulls his phone out, intent on ignoring her. "You don't like to talk much, huh? More comfortable with silence or just uncomfortable with talking?" His eyes shift from his phone to the older teen, brows drawn into an angry glare, a silent demand for her to stop while she's ahead. His lip twitches in frustration when she continues anyway. "We were all like you at one point, Billy. Scared kids who just want their families back-"

"I don't want my family back." He says, his voice laced with venom while he plays a game on his phone. "I don't give _two shits_ about my mom, she abandoned me at a carnival in the middle of winter. I just know that I don't need a family to _pretend with_ when I can manage by myself." He dies in his game and looks up at Mary, who looks shell shocked at either his attmitance to not wanting a family or the fact that he's speaking. "And I'm not scared. I've been in homes hundreds of times worse than this place." Billy shifts again so he's laying on the couch, using his backpack as a pillow and continuing his game on his phone, putting Mary behind him. They've been sitting in silence for half an hour or so when he feels her eyes on him, and when he looks over at her, she's scrutinizing what he's wearing.

"Did you even change last night or did you sleep in what you got here in?" She asks, her face scrunched up in confusion. Billy doesn't answer her but that must be all she needs because she sighs after a moment. "That excited to leave?" He, of course, doesn't tell her the embarrassing truth, and instead rolls his eyes. He doesn't have to explain himself to this girl, trying to be an adult, who's acting like a parent. "Just... give this place a chance, Billy. It might surprise you." She stands after that and places a gentle hand on his shoulder before walking off.

He waits for her footsteps to disappear up the stairs before standing and making his way to the kitchen. He's about to scavenge through the cabinets, looking for bowls to have cereal in or even a plate to slap some cold leftovers on, when sound of a creaky step alerts him to someone coming down the stairs. He wants so bad to drop what he's doing and hide, to run from whoever is sneaking through the house this late at night, but decides against that when he hears the telltale sound of metal and plastic hitting the wood a second before a footstep. A crutch, which must mean that Freddy is awake now. The other boy clearly isn't expecting to see Billy because he very visibly jumps when he rounds the corner into the kitchen.

"Oh, hey man what's up? You're up, like, super early? Couldn't sleep?" The curly haired boy questions, limping over to what Billy recognizes as the pantry and pulling down a box of some overly sugared cereal. "Or was it more of a 'waited too long to leave because you didnt realize there was an alarm system so now you're stuck here' type of situation? That's what happened to Mary, at least that's what I've heard. That happened way before I got here." Freddy says this as he grabs the milk from the fridge then a bowl and spoon. "I don't know the whole story but she ended up setting the alarm off when she snuck out and got picked up by the cops the same day after they reported her missing."

"No appetite either, huh?" He continues as if Billy isn't ignoring him. "You should really eat something, dude. Especially after throwing up your dinner and falling asleep on the toilet." Freddy let's a small huff of breath out at his expression when Billy's eyes widen and his face pales. "Yeah, uh, who do you think locked the door, man? I woke up at like midnight and had to go to the bathroom. Imagine my surprise when I open the door and see, not only is the light on but you're absolutely knocked out on the floor and using the toilet like a pillow."

He feels the skin of his neck and ears heat up with embarrassment at being caught like that. If he's honest, though, he's glad it was the curly haired kid with a Cheshire cat grin and not the silent one that looks like he's stockpiling information in his head to use against you later. At least with Freddy, he can almost guarantee that the boy will have forgotten about this by the time the next kid comes along. And if he doesn't, at least Billy won't be around to relive the embarrassment of the story being told over dinner.

As they sit there in mostly silence, the only noise being Freddys spoon clanking against the bowl as he chases little marshmallows and small pieces of cereal, Billy watches the sky turn from inky blue to a dusky deep gray streaked with pinks and oranges and finally to a light silvery blue tinged with purple along the treeline, not once getting up to serve himself breakfast even after Freddy has helped himself to what he assumes is the seventh bowl of cereal. The question "where the fuck are you storing all that food, you chipmunk?" is on the top of his tongue, his mouth cracked open with the beginnings of the 'w', when he hears heavy footsteps coming down the stairs. Despite preparing himself, he flinches hard as a large hand settles on his head and ruffles his short hair followed closely by a smaller hand smoothing out the fluffed out strands.

"_Buenos dias niños._ Did you sleep well?" Rosa asks softly as she pulls out ingredients to make... something. What, Billy isn't quite sure because none of it really looks like it's supposed to go together. Instead of speaking, he shrugs and let's Freddy fill the room with his chattering about his dream.

He folds his arms on the table and buries his face in the crook of his elbows, yanking the hood of his jacket up to cover his head. He kinda wishes he had squeezed a nap in while no one was in the kitchen, aside from Freddy but he doesn't really count, because he can already feel his social battery running low as well as exhaustion creeping it's way into his bones and muscles the longer he sits still.

Billy stays like that until everyone else is downstairs and seated and only sits up when Rosa goes to put a plate in front of him. He says nothing, not when she puts a hand on his shoulder with a concerned look, not when Darla greets him loudly and too excitedly, not when they do their weird before meals ritual, definitely not during breakfast, and not when he finishes eating. 

He runs his tongue between this teeth and lips, considering what to do. He could go to school like its expected of him today and then, after they're all let go for the day, he could just leave. The other kids probably won't care, Hell, they'll probably welcome not having to deal with another kid taking up their foster parents time and attention, aside from Darla but she'll get over it quickly. His face must give something away because Pedro is looking at him with an expression that just tells Billy he knows something. It freaks him out a little, if he's honest with himself, and causes him to stand up.

Billy is starting to head over to the door, to gather with the others by the door, when he hears Rosa say his name softly. He turns to the woman, eyes downcast as he watches Pedro out of the corner of his eye as the other boy walks past him, and is expecting to get yelled at for something, anything, when he feels gentle hands on his shoulders. Glancing up at the woman, he swallows at the warmth he sees in her brown eyes.

"Have a good day at school, _mijo_." She says softly, hands going up to cup his face. The pure affection in her eyes, coupled with being touched, makes Billy squirm so he just gives a barely noticeable nod and wiggles from her loose hands. He sees a flash of sadness engulf Rosa's face as hes turning but he doesn't think on it before he's back at the door with the others. The five all let out a chorus of farewells to the couple before making their way outside. It's only when he makes it outside and gets a sharp wintry blast of air to his face does he realize he wasn't breathing, instead holding the air in his lungs to stop from hyperventilating. He releases the air with a huff as he digs his beanie from his jacket pocket, pulling it onto his head and over his ears before yanking the red hood overtop the hat.

Billy kept his eyes on the ground as he followed the other kids to school. The cold air was a welcome feeling after being trapped in an overly cramped house all night, especially since he didn't take his long jacket or the thick pull over he had under it off the whole time. By the time they got to the building, Darla's nose was running, Eugene's cheeks were bright red, and Mary had her face tucked into the scarf. Aside from himself, Pedro seemed to be the only one that wasn't really affected by the temperature.

Darla didn't let the cold chill her enthusiasm because as soon as they started going up the steps, she was talking about the amount of students and how they were potential new friends. She went on to talk about the principal but he mostly had her tuned out. Billy felt his eyebrow raise when he saw the security scanner and rolled his eyes when the small girl tried to explain it to him.

"Silence makes me uncomfortable." She said softly after he asked if she always did this, to which Eugene snarked out something about her never being uncomfortable. Billy made a face that basically said _I can see that_ just as her arms wrapped around his stomach and she said something that, under different circumstances, might've warmed his heart.

He, as gently as he could, shoved her off and let his temper overtake him. "We're not siblings, stop hugging me." He snapped, turning away as he hiked his bag higher onto his shoulders. A glance over his shoulder showed Darla being led down the hallway by Freddy and immediately he felt awful. After a moment of watching them, only looking away when they disappeared in the crowd, Billy started heading in the direction of the principal's office to get his schedule. Not that it mattered, but he might as well act normal so his foster parents don't get wind of his plans via the school calling them.


	4. Shazam

He walks up to the secretary and asks where he needed to go for the day. When asked his name, Billy feels his eyebrow arch into his hairline because how many new kids does Fawcett Public get that they can't keep track of one pathetic foster kid? Okay, he kinda answered his own question when he called himself 'pathetic', honestly. He gave her his name with a grunt and, after a moment of her clicking away on the computer and avoiding looking at him, she handed him a still hot piece of paper from the print and gave him beyond vague instructions on how to get to his first class.

First class of the day was, gross, Science. Billy had never been good with Science for a multitude of reasons but mostly because he had a hard time memorizing all the facts and other useless bullshit that he one hundred percent knew he'd never use in his life after high school. It especially sucked that they expected a kid to learn and retain science right after waking up, but whatever.

Second class ended up being Math. Math was never his strong point but he could normally get through it easier than Science. All of the numbers and letters started to peel off the dry erase board and the waxy pages of his newly assigned book due to being up for five hours already and it only being ten in the morning. He was the first one out of his chair when the bell rang.

Third class was Study Hall, which was essentially a free period for him to fuck around on his phone since he didn't have any assignments yet. He ended up using that two hour period to catch up on some rest.

Billy was awoken by a backpack slamming into his shoulder, his beanie and hood covered ears catching the tail ends of the fading bell. He slowly sat up, blinking drowsy eyes at the quickly clearly classroom. Digging the paper he got a few hours prior, he sighed with relief to see that it was time for lunch, and then only three classes left. He stood once he was the last student in the room and followed the thin crowd to the cafeteria. A small sigh left his mouth when he realized that none of the others would have the same lunch period as him.

Placing the tray on the empty ground table, Billy sat down after hanging his bag on the back of the chair and stuffing the zip-up jacket he'd had on for more than two days into the empty space at the top. He'd barely even touched his food when, somehow someway, Freedy Freeman found him and plopped doesn beside him, immediately pestering hin about choosing "flight or invisibility" as his super power.

His face must not have given away his irritation with the other boy for interrupting his meal, the first one he doesn't immediately feel the need to throw back up. He rolls his eyes in exasperation and stands, throwing his mostly untouched food away as Freddy limps after him. Billy is just making it to the bathroom when he hears something that makes him stop and turn.

"You're planning to run away after school, aren't you?" Freddy asks, eyes downcast. A moment of truly awkward silence follows before their eyes meet and then the other boy is stuttering about how he's in the same clothes he was wearing when he got to the house nearly a full day ago and how he didn't have any other items besides the backpack, so clearly he keeps his personal stuff small and light and with him at all times. A second passes where neither speak before Billy blinks, and the spell is broken. His eyebrows furrow and he scoffs, before shoving the door to the boys room open and leaving Feeddy with an answer clearer than if he'd spoken.

The rest of his day passes in a blur so jumbled he can't remember his last classes of the day or if they were assigned homework. He decides it doesn't matter, neither Billy himself or his foster siblings care about him enough to check if he has homework. When he gets to the bottom of the steps, he ignores Mary in favor of mulling over the idea of whether or not he can get away with just... walking off on the way back to the house, deciding if he wants to risk one of the other following or trying to stop him, when a black truck hops the curb and hits Freddy. Everyone freaks out and gathers around the downed boy, both Mary and Darla yelling at the two boys who get out of the vehicle and start mocking Freddy, but Billy gets this sort of far away feeling to seeing someone else get picked on and teased that causes him to pull his hood over his head and simply walk away.

That is, until the one bending over into Freddys face laughs about him not having a mother to go home to. Billy slowly turns and peeks over his shoulder, urging the downed boy to stand and _fight them_ over that comment. He got into a multitude of fights when he was younger because of stray mocking comments about his home life, and he wasn't afraid to get into another. He just wished it wasn't for a kid he had no intentions of sticking around. 

Walking back over to the two older kids, Billy picks the discarded crutch up off the cold cement sidewalk and shouts, drawing the closer ones attention, before swinging the hollow metal and plastic item against the boys face and the ramming it into his brothers groin.

Billy makes a comment about their inability to fight fair before he's lifting the crutch again, aiming to bring it down on the better dressed ones face so they had matching bruises, when it gets yanked from his grip and, oh look, now he's sporting at least two bruised ribs from where he gets hit.

He stifles a yelp when the small of his back meets the front wing and his shoulders are pressed into the hood of the truck, a hand closed around his throat. He claws at the meaty fist that's choking him but it's all for naut because a moment later, he gets a fist to the gut that has him doubling over and hitting the ground beside Freddy. 

He thanks whatever deity out there that made Eugene because the boy's grabbing nunchucks from the back pocket of the guy who just sucker punched him and making a literal fool of himself, and it gives Billy enough time to regain his breath, get to his feet, and take off down the sidewalk.

By the time he hops the fence and gets inside the train station, he's wheezing from the pain his ribs radiate, and almost starts to cry with relief when he barely makes it inside the train car before the doors close. A second later the two assholes hit the door and start shouting at him but the train is leaving and he's waving at them through the window.

Legs wobbling like he just ran a decathlon and not a total of maybe an eighth of a mile, Billy shakily plops into a hard plastic seat in the nearly empty car, closing his eyes and listening as the announcer says something about the next stop being at 30th.

After regaining his breathe, he lifts a hand and gently prods his side, hissing with pain, despite messing with the tender spot through four layers of clothing. Based on his breathing and the deep throbbing pain, he'd even go as far to say he might have cracked or even broken ribs instead of just bruising them.

His eyes pop open when the car starts to shake and the lights of the subway tunnel start to flash by in a kaleidoscope of colors on a black backdrop. Glancing around, he sees that he's now alone and feels his heartrate pick up with anxiety as the shaking gets worse. Just as he's thinking this is a joke, the shaking stops and the colors disappear, hidden behind a thin layer of ice on the windows.

Billy stands on still unstable legs and walks up to the doors, a hand clenched around his backpack strap as a way to assure him this is real. The hydraulics hiss and crackle as they open, showing a dark rocky cave with... an on fire violin or guitar or something parallel to what looks like an archway.

A quick glance at the map by the exit brings more confusion to the brunet before he steps from the car, eyes scanning the environment around him with a wary uneasiness. Before he can utter a word or take more than five steps, he hears more than feels a gust of wind behind him. Whirling around shows him to be standing in a small, empty circle, no train car in sight.

That's when he starts to freak out, shouting about how sick this joke is though he receives no answer other than his own echo.

Feeling his lip start to wobble and eyes well up in a deep, gut feeling sense of dread, Billy hesitantly shuffles toward the archway and peaks through. His confusion only grows because past the doorway is a long hall like entrance, remenescent of a castle or a mansion, with destroyed statues on one side and an empty pedestal on the other. At the other end, opposite himself, is a small set of stairs leading up to seven chairs set up in a semi-circle.

Swallowing down his ever growing fear and inching his way closer to the old guy he is only just now noticing in the center chair, Billy feels like he really shouldn't be here. If this is his punishment for considering running away, he'll never consider leaving the Vasquez's, _ever_.

Just as Billy is even with that little pedestal to his right, he stops and toes the ground nervously before clearing his throat, since he's not sure if this old man has noticed him yet. He breathes a real sigh of relief when the guy moves, because Billy was worried that he might be dead just 'cause of how still he was.

He tries to listen to the guys, the _wizards_, speech, he really does, but Billy has always had a hard time concentrating when he thinks he's in a life threatening situation or when he's trapped in a cave with an old guy. He makes a face and says 'gross' when he's told to grab the staff but does so anyway. He doesn't know why he does it, just that something in his gut that was telling him to get away from this place was also telling him to at least do what he's told, for once.

A snort and a small smile makes it's way to his face when he gets told the wizards name but it's gone just as quickly as it appeared.

He doesn't know what he's expecting when he says the guys name, maybe he was hoping that _nothing_ would happen and this was just some crazy hobo, but he wasn't prepared to get struck by lightning and feel himself disconnect and have a literal out of body experience for a solid minute while the wizard screams out some ancient beings names before being plopped onto the ground with a voice an octave and a half lower and his vision of a foot taller.

He's holding the staff when the wizard formally known as Shazam crumbles and falls apart before he screams and throws the glowy stick, begging the ceiling to get him out of the creepy cave.

When his eyes open, he's expecting it to have been a dream and feels a deep, nauseating sense of unease when, not only is he still a grown man, someone is in his face and complimenting his outfit choice. He bolts from his seat and, not used to his new height, promptly slams his face into the top of the car door in his haste to run away. A quick pat to his forehead shows no blood so he continues to speed walk through the train station, ignoring the catcalls and whistles he gets. Mostly because, as a fourteen year old, he has no idea how to handle them and also, he's terrified.


	5. Ideas

It's about eight at night by the time Billy makes it back to the Vasquez foster home, though the sun tends to go down sooner in the day during the winter and fall months so it looks more like its midnight. He ducks down behind the trashcan in the alley and stares up at the silhouette of Freddy through the kitchen window and clutches the strap of his backpack like a lifeline.

He always thought the set up of this house was really weird but now he's thankful for the small, high window that looks out into a dark alley instead of a backyard. He waits until the other boy is facing the window, though he looks angry and is mumbling about something, before darting forward and hoping onto an old milk crate, holding up a carboard sign that reads _'Don't Scream'_ while pressing a finger to his own lips in a shushing manner. Freddy startles and goes to open his mouth but Billy flails his hand around and points to the sign.

"Don't scream, Freddy! Jeez! Listen, it's Billy, meet me out here when you get the chance, man, okay?" He says, talking loudly so his voice carries through the window. He hears footsteps and a deep voice from inside that he pins as Victor, and that's all the motivation he needs to dart from his spot in front of the window, quickly scurrying down the alleyway to wait for the curly haired boy.

It's twenty minutes later and he's bent over, examining his face in the side mirror of a car when he hears the telltale click clacking of Freddy's crutch. His relief is short lived because the other is threatening to call the police unless he can prove he's not using psychic powers or something to make him _think_ he is who he says he is. Billy doesn't even know how to respond to that other than showing the boy his backpack and pulling his phone out.

Showing Freddy the lock screen, he unlocks it with the pattern and the pass code - a blocky crisscrossing complicated mess for the pattern and the date he was abandoned at the carnival for the code {not because he needs reminding, but because it's the only other date he has burned into his brain that he instinctively puts other than his birthday}, two things that no one but Billy himself should've known - and repeating the stupid 'flight or invisibility' question he was asked earlier in the day. Freddy seems to believe him because the scared puppy look has left his eyes and now he is staring at Billy with the same awestruck look that he normally associates with children when they see candy.

He looks down at the bright yellow lightning bolt on his chest when Freddy points to it and softly asks if he can touch it. Under normal circumstances, like if he wasn't magically transformed into a buff adult with a slightly too tight in places super suit, he might think this was an extremely awkward thing for someone to ask another person. But because this wasn't normal at all, in any sense of the word, he nodded with a quiet 'yeah man'. If that wasn't a weird enough thing to see by itself, they were also both giggling like school girls while electricity crackled from the bolt to Freddy's fingers and followed his hand as he wiggled them.

His brain nearly short-circuited when he was asked what his super powers were because he _just_ got like this, how would he know? Gears clicked into place so suddenly when Freddy questioned if he could fly, his brain feels like it releases a small zap of electricity that jolted him into action and he throws his bag at Freddy who hooks the straps onto his shoulders.

Did he know? No. Would he be testing it? Of course! How? Jump off something, duh Freeman.

At first Freddy told him to 'just, like, Superman it', but he didn't actually know what that meant considering he didn't keep up with heroes at all like the other boy, so he opted out of that in favor of just literally launching himself off the nearest thing, which happens to be that car from earlier. Obviously, that's the smartest course to go. Except for, now his ribs hurt again and he didn't know if that would effect him when, _if_ he ever managed to figure out how to turn into himself again.

He wheezed from his spot on the ground before shaking off the honestly minor ache before hopping up to his feet. Freddy seemed to think him _believing_ he could fly was the key to flight but he doubted that. He believed that if you could fly, you would and if you couldn't you wouldn't. Simple as that, which explained why he didn't leave the ground farther than his leap of faith from the roof of a car.

Next thing Freddy suggested was invisibility. He rolled his eyes at the suggestion but attempted to turn invisible anyway. Of course Freeman would go with those two powers first. When the other boy started freaking out about not being able to see him, Billy gasped and started dancing around like the literal child he is. That was ruined when a group of people walked past, on the other side of a fence, and mocked him. He went from staring 'deer in headlights' at the guys to glaring at Freddy.

"I'm gonna come over there and beat your ass, Freeman." He threatened, pointing at the curly haired boy. His surprise is palpable when a bolt of lightning shoots out of his hand and into a transformer, knocking out the power on the block. They went from staring at the box to each other and then to Billy's hand before Freddy started freaking out about how his powers were 'staring then in the face the entire time'.

A quick trip to the nearby park lead them to a half ball thing made of pipes that kids like to crawl around on, that neither of them honestly knew the name of, that he was electrifying while giggling like an idiot with Freddy. They stood like that for a solid twenty minutes, just watching the arcs of blue and white with a childlike satisfaction, before a scream pierced the air. Now, Billy isn't normally very confrontational so he just ended up staring in the direction the screams came from before Freddy nudged him with his crutch. 

"Oh shit, right. Hey you!" He started walking in the direction of what appeared to be an attempted mugging in progress before suddenly he was basically on top of the mugger. Whipping his head around, he stared at Freddy with wide eyes and a gaping mouth, hearing faintly as the boy shouted about 'hyperspeed'. Looking down at the man, who was cradling his face, and then over at the woman, Billy made a face and pointed.

"I thought... you were the one screaming?"

"He tried to take my purse so I pepper sprayed him." She explained, looking at Billy with an expression akin to someone trying to figure out where a bad smell was coming from. 

"Smart... move..." He mumbled before picking up the mugger, who was trying to crawl away. "That should teach you, man, not to mess with old ladies. Because maybe you'll get pepper sprayed or something." He said, holding the man by his coat lapels as he ignored the woman trying to correct him about her age. "So, like, get woke, bro." Billy said, shoving the man to get him to walk along but ended up just launching him across the park and into trash.

Just as Freddy walked up, slapping Billy's arm when he mentioned that he had hyper strength and was almost as cool as Superman, the woman pulled cash from her purse and shakily handed it to him, claiming she didn't hear or see them before running away despite the two trying to reassure her that they didn't mean harm.

"Forget that man, we just made seventy-three bucks!" Freddy shouted, slapping Billy once more as he counted the money.

"Seventy-three bucks? I just got an idea!" He exclaimed and waved Freddy along, heading for the nearest gas station.

They paused outside the convenient store five minutes later and watched at the teenager on her phone, looking like she'd rather be anywhere else. The two boys made eye contact before nodding and heading inside. The girl didn't even look up.

"Hello. I'd like to purchase some of your finest beer, please." Billy said, giving his voice a lilt that it didn't normally have and holding an extremely stiff stance. The teen finally looked from her phone after a second and glanced Billy over with a raised eyebrow, before pointing to her left with an unenthusiastic stare. Billy gave an equally stiff nod, a smile that said 'I shouldn't be here what am I doing' plastered to his face as he awkwardly turned his body and headed down the aisle, Freddy shuffling after him. Only once they were in front of the beer section did they drop the stiff postures.

He was looking over the options when the other boy expressed concerns and his fear about them not having identification to buy said alcohol. "Freddy. I _am_ the fake ID, have you seen me? Seriously." He countered, not taking his eyes off a cheap German beer. Just as he was about to open the fridge, the door opened and two men came in with guns, demanding the girl to give them all the money in the register. Freddy ducked behind a chip rack and Billy ducked behind him, watching the robbers over Freddy's head. A swift hit to his shins with a crutch had him moving down the aisle with a hiss and a flapping hand at the boy.

Billy had to keep his bottom lip from wobbling as he eyed the two guns while creeping up on the robbers. He halted at the end of the aisle, standing up straight as he glanced at his foster brother from the corner of his eye before cleared his throat and gaining their attention.

"Good evening... Gentlemen. Why use guns when we can use..." He paused and looked between the two men and the cashier as his brain basically shut down. "Words instead?" Billy held a pained smile for about two seconds before a gun was being aimed at him and, as if his hand was acting on it's own, he snatched it from the man just as the other lifted his own and shot him.

Just before the shot deafened him, he heard Freddy shout at him and he immediately felt his stomach drop to his feet at the thought of the younger boy getting hurt because of his stupid, selfish actions. He was staring at the ground and just hoping that the men didn't round on Freddy next, he'd be so easy to take out, when he saw the flattened bullet unstick from his suit and fall to the floor as if in slow motion. Billy watched the little pancake bounce and roll before he straightened his back and met Freddy's face that he was pretty sure reflected his. Pure and utter confusion but also unadulterated _awe_.

"Bullet immunity... You have bullet immunity, dude!" Freddy shouted with way too much enthusiasm at seeing his sibling being shot, or maybe it was because the shooting deafened him just like it did Billy, before lifting his phone, video recorder on. "Its December eighth and this is a video of _authenticity!_ Shoot him again!" He was basically bouncing like a child seeing candy for the first time. Billy blinked three times before shrugging, handing the first robber his gun back and making a 'come at me' gesture with his hands. The two men looked at each other before shooting Billy once more. Well, more like seven more times each.

On instinct, Billy flinched and closed his eyes, only opening them when the shooting stopped. He blinked open his eyes and felt over his entire body, laughing giddily when he didn't feel pain or see blood. He was content to leave it there and deal with the robbers but of course Freddy and his nerdy superhero fanatic brain had to shout at them to shoot him _in the face_. Billy agreed until he heard the _face_ part, and then he wanted to strangle Freddy. He didn't have the chance, though, because his face was being pelted by what felt like pebbles or maybe hard marshmallows? He only opened his eyes when he heard the telltale clicking of an empty gun chamber which also meant that the magazine was empty.

"It kind of tickles." Billy informed Freddy, turning to look at the boy and they both laughed, giggled and snorted more like. He continued to laugh when he faced the men before dropping the smile. "Okay. You're dead now."

He lunged forward, crossed his arms, and grabbed both of the arms that were on the inside and closer to the other, yanking his arms back and knocking them into together. While they were recovering from their skulls cracking cracking against another skull at inhuman strength and speed, he grabbed a string of Christmas lights and wrapped them up before just launching them through he store window.

The whole situation, from entering the store to throwing the robbers out, lasted about five minutes.

He turned to look at Freddy, a stupid grin on his face, but found that the teen was waiting by the counter, a six pack of bottled beer in his hand and just waiting for him awkwardly.

They purchased the thing they came to the store for and exited the building, watching the two men scurry away like wild coyotes or something into the darkness, if coyotes had cheerful colors blinking all over their bodies from Christmas lights being around them, as Billy apologized to the woman about her window. He pulled a bottle from the six pack, opened it with his super strong flicking thumb, because that's a smart way to use these powers, and passed it to Freddy before doing the same to a second bottle. They clinked the bottles with stupid smiles on their faces and took a swig of the alcohol.

And then promptly _spit and sprayed_ it all over the concrete as they gagged on the taste.

Turning around, they went back inside, and wandered the store, picking up random items they wanted before dropping their things onto the counter with cheeky grins at the still shaking teenager.

Once their things were paid for, the duo left the little convenience store. Billy listened to Freddy as he babbled on about how habanero jerky could tear a hole through someone's stomach, if they ate enough and he chimed in with a small 'worth it' before Feddy shrugged and looked up at him, claiming he'd probably be fine because of his super stomach or something. They giggled like schoolgirls just as a woman rounded the corner and headed towards the door. 

"Oh hey, what's up, I'm a superhero. We're like the same age. We should hang out sometime." He said with a small grin, walking backwards.

"Uh, yeah. His name is... Captain Sparklefingers." Freddy snickered as he limped ahead of Billy who was trying to tell her that, no, that wasn't his name but he abandoned that idea when he saw a cop car pull up and immediately bolted, leaving Freddy behind as he attempted to catch up, calling after him.

Ten minutes of walking lead then to the Philidelphia Museum of Art where they promptly plopped down on the steps and stared at the big Washington Monument Fountain. Billy spread his legs out on the steps and sighed as he dug another bag of chips from his bag that Freddy had stuffed their goodies into, humming as Freddy spoke.

"Hey man... I like you like this. You're so much cooler. Not to be, like, rude or anything but you were kind of... the exact opposite of how... of how Darla is, ya'know?" Billy blinked and looked at the younger.

"A dick?" He asked, popping another chip into his mouth with a tilted head. Freddy simply nodded, yawning widely and loudly. 

"Okay. We should head home, though." Freddy said, standing up. Billy made a face and gestured to himself. "Oh right. Well..." He looked around and sighed before shrugging. "We could probably sneak you upstairs for the night and get you back out before Rosa wakes everyone up? And we can just figure out what to do then." The boy suggested and since Billy had no other options, he nodded with a grimace.

It took them around fifteen minutes to finally get back to the house and when they did, Billy went in first, slouching so his giant glowing lightning bolt symbol didn't shine all over the place and wake anyone up somehow. Maybe Mary would sense that that someone was awake and shining light around, and would just wake up, for some stupid reason. He was suspicious of why the alarm wasn't set but decided not to fight it, figuring maybe Rosa and Victor wanted him to be able to get back inside with sending cops to the house.

He was walking up the stairs and about to step from the first landing on his path upwards when he heard talking, freezing when he saw the foster parents sitting in the dining room and talking lowly with their backs to the boys. He managed to catch Victor say "it's not a home until they call it that themselves" but couldn't hear the rest before Freddy was shoving him. He flapped his hand at the boy and started moving. He kind of _really_ wishes he would've remembered which step was the fucking bum step, otherwise he could've avoided hitting it and alerting the foster parents that someone was walking around.

Thank God for Freddy because he shouted to them that it was just him and that he was just headed for the bathroom. This placated Rosa enough because her footsteps sounded back through the house as she called a good night over her shoulder. Everything would've gone great if Billy wasn't such an idiot. Instead of keeping his mouth _fucking shut_, he just _had_ to answer her. Once more, thank _God_ for Freddy because he immediately had a cover. Granted, he wasn't happy about Freddy saying he had _laryngitis_ and he quickly said he was joking, but it held Rosa off enough for them to get into the first room he saw.

Which just happened to be Darla's.

And she wasn't a heavy sleeper because she woke up as soon as the door was shut, rubbing her eye as she turned on the lamp beside her bed. The boys met each others eyes and before Billy could properly think, he was across the room and covering Darla's mouth, like a sociopath.

"Covering your mouth like you're going to _kidnap her_ isn't going to keep her calm." Freddy hissed out, staying by the door in case Rosa tried to open it. Billy looked down at Darla, who honestly looked beyond terrified, and uncovered her mouth.

"Look, okay, Darla, listen." He whispered, crouching so he was at her eye level. "Its me, its Billy. Okay? I was on the subway after school and then suddenly I wasn't in Philidelphia anymore and got taken to this temple with an old wizard guy that made me say Shazam and-" He couldn't even get the rest of the words out before lightning struck him through the light bulb socket and, suddenly, he wasn't an old guy in a super tight costume anymore, he was in his fourteen body and patting himself as smoke slowly wafted off of his clothing and skin.

"Voice activated transformation... You can change my saying Shazam!" Freddy whisper-shouted, clutching the broken doorknob and staring at Billy with, again, way too much enthusiasm for seeing someone he knows be struck by lightning. Together, the boys moved and left the room, Darla getting up and following them.

"Wait Darla, you can't tell anyone, okay? No one can know about this." Freddy said as he unhooked the dark green back and shoved it into Billy's hand, and Billy felt his heart squeeze uncomfortably at her argument of 'but its Billy, he's family' because he wasn't acting like someone people would be proud to call their family. "Listen D. Families are, like, the key hostages to a supervillain and if we're his family, we're at a lot of risk if anyone finds out okay? Good sisters don't tell other peoples secrets." Freddy said, placing a hand on the girls head before handing her the doorknob. "They also... fix the doorknobs." He added before grabbing Billy and pulling the other boy in the direction of their room.


	6. Don't Stop Me Now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry it took me forever to update. Life is happening and I'm just along for the ride, right now.
> 
> Trigger Warning; mentions of past self harm and a panic attack right at the beginning. Not a well written panic attack, mind you, but written similarly to one of my own, real life, panic attacks.
> 
> A little forewarning that this chapter is not complete yet. I just wanted to give you guys something. Be sure to check back in a few days for a more updated/ longer chapter

When the sun rose at six forty-seven the next morning, Billy was still laying in his bed, wide awake and burning holes through the ceiling. He hadn't even managed to change from his clothes, his brain too distracted to send a signal to the rest of his body and tell it to get into a clean set of clothing.

When Freddy's alarm started going off, Billy stays in bed until he hears the telltale groaning and slapping that lets him know that the other is awake. Moments later, he sees Freddy's curly hair and blinks for the first time in what feels like hours.

"Hey, Billy, wake up. Rosa will be up in a few minutes to make sure everyone is awake for breakfast and... you never went to sleep, did you?" Freddy mumbles around a yawn, blinking at Billy with sleep heavy eyes. The lack of a reply is all Freddy needs, apparently, because he sighs and mutters something about unhealthy sleep patterns before shuffling to his dresser, grabbing a set of clothes, and makes his way out of the room, to the bathroom Billy guesses.

He sucks in a deep breath once Freddy is out of the room and can feel the back of his throat start to burn as he tries to swallow down his emotions. Now that he's had time to actually process this whole thing, he's realizing he's honestly the most scared he's ever been in his life. Billy throws his arm over his eyes and chokes out a sob.

Billy doesn't want to be a superhero, not like this. He's just some foster kid with a fucked up past and a rap sheet a mile long, abandoned and unloved by everyone he's ever met. If he's being honest with himself, he thinks it'd be better if Freddy had gotten these powers. He's smart, smarter than Billy could honestly ever hope to be, he'd have figured this out within the first twenty minutes and without anyone else's help.

He wishes that he could get rid these powers. While they're cool, he never asked for this and just the idea that he has this power at the literal tip of his tongue has him on the verge of vomiting.

Billy sits up and digs his fingernails into his scalp, yanking on his hair as he curls over his own knees, his breathing coming out ragged and heavy as he repeats the mantra of _not good enough, never good enough_ over and over in his head.

His skin no longer feels like his own, he feels like he's living a lie. Blunt fingernails bite into his neck and scrape down, digging into skin, covering his throat in wide waked scratches that bead with blood near the bottom where he flexed his fingers into the flesh covered hollow behind his collarbone. Before he knows it, his jacket is discarded onto the floor and he's scratching at his forearms, aggravating old scars and opening new wounds that line his skin. It's only when he feels a gentle yet firm hand on his shoulder that he realizes Rosa is even in the room and attempting to speak to him, though his blood is rushing and his pulse is pounding so hard in his ears so hard he couldn't hear her even if he wanted to.

"_Está bien, cálmate,_ Billy. You're alright, sweetie." She repeats the phrase over and over, until his breathing slows and he can hear her better than just garbled nonsense. "There we go, just breathe. Are you okay?" Her eyes portray a genuine and sincere type of worry that he feels tears start to cascade down his cheeks as he chokes on his breath. "You can stay home today, if you need to? I can call the school and let them know." Rosa is sitting on the small, twin mattress with him and carding her fingers through his sweaty hair, carefully avoiding the claw-marks on his scalp.

"No... It's fine." He mutters, his cheekbone pressed into her shoulder uncomfortably. In a way, he held onto that discomfort, it grounded him and kept him from spiraling again. "I'm fine. I'll be fine, just a lapse in sanity I guess." He adds after a second before pulling out of her warm and gentle arms in favor of grabbing his phone and sliding off of the bed, landing heavily. "Thanks, though." He glances over his shoulder and offers the woman a small shaky smile before snatching the hoodie from the floor and trudging out out of the room, heading downstairs. 

Once he got to the bottom landing, the one that looked over the dining room, living room, and mud room, he realized everyone else was at the table and eating already. A slow blink and a barely contained lip wobble later has Billy pulling his zipper all the way to his chin and yanking his hood over his head.

He ends up not joining them for breakfast and no one says anything to him when they're all leaving the house, though he feels Mary drop something into the side pouch of his bag when she thinks he's distracted and Darla, a lot less discreetly, slip a tinfoil wrapped... thing into his pocket.

It's not until they're basically at the school that he pulls the item from his pocket and stares down at the still hot breakfast burrito that has a smiley face sticker and a lightning bolt drawing on the top. Hot tears well in his eyes and he smiles down at the young girl while her back is to him.

He glances at Freddy from the corner of his eye, just for a second, but has to do a double-take when he sees that Freddy is already staring at him and, once their eyes meet, flails his hand spastically. He stops and lets the other four group home kids head into the school, none noticing that the two fourteen year old boys are no longer following them.

"What, Freddy? Is it about this morning, because I really don't wanna talk about it-"

"No it's not about this morning, but we are gonna talk about that dude. No, this is about that." Freddy says, yanking Billy down the sidewalk to point at the big black truck driving towards the school and immediately he feels his brows furrow in confusion. He's just starting to open his mouth to ask what Freddy wants him to do when an idea occurs to him and, apparently, Freddy is on the same track because they high-five with matching expressions of wide eyes and mischievous smirks.

Soon enough, both boys are huddled on the steps of the school and giggling like children at the Breyer brother's expressions of pure and utter shock at their truck landing in front of them and being destroyed. He has to admit, this makes him feel better, especially knowing that Freddy would abuse them just as much as he is now, and it's almost like this morning never happened. Freddy is standing now, nudging Billy with his crutch to get him moving just as the warning bell rings. Neither make it to their first period on time but Billy can't find it in himself to care about the disgruntled look he gets.

He even managed to eat the breakfast burrito Darla gave him this morning, in between classes. It's gone slightly cold by then but it fills him up and gives him the energy he needs to get through the day.

Hours later, just after lunch, Billy is standing outside of the teachers lounge, leaning against the lockers as he waits for Freddy to finish grabbing what they need. He's debating just going into the room to help the other boy when the door finally opens and out comes Freeman, a peeved off expression on his face as he throws the wrapped up trench coat at Billy. He catches it in the gut and wheezes at the feeling of five textbooks slamming into his vital organs and ribs.

"Could've just handed it to me-" he starts to speak but gets cut off by Freddys expression. "Look, I'm sorry I sent you in there but I can play lookout better." That's not what Freeman wants to hear because he stops walking and turns to Billy, gesturing to himself and his crutch before continuing down the hall. "You have a very mischievous face, you always look like you're up to something."

"M-me? This face?" Freddy asks, pointing to himself with a kicked puppy expression that actually makes Billy feel bad. Neither say anything else as they come up on the security guard. At first he doesn't look at them, eyes focused on a magazine, but when Freddy shrugs and makes to just leave, the guard snaps at them about having their hall passes and needing a guardian to be there to check them out.

"Oh yeah, we always have our hall passes on us, but, uh, our dad is picking us up. He's, uh, right outside, just got here from the... business... office..." Billy says, trying to keep his face neutral. The guard glanced between the two of them for a brief moment before narrowing his eyes and glaring Freddy down. Using the stare off between the two as a distraction, Billy ran through the security detector and whispered a soft "Shazam!" in the lobby. Despite his attempt at being quiet, the lights above him still exploded and filled the room with smoke.

He quickly threw the trenchcoat on and backed up until he was standing next to the co fused security guard and Freddy who was on the verge of blowing their cover because he looked like he was about to explode with laughter.

"Hey there, son, who's also related to my other son, don't run in school! Hello there, sir, this is me, appearing physically, to check my two sons out of school for the day. Sorry I was late. I hot caught up at the business office... doing all that work stuff..." he trailed off and glanced at Freddy from the corner of his eye before nodding and directing the boy towards the door. "Thanks so much for keep them safe all day officer... Moron." 

Without waiting to hear the reply from the security guard about him butchering his name pronunciation, the two of them ran from the school, cackling like maniacs once out of the building.

After walking for thirty minutes, they finally come across an abandoned warehouse that has Billy looking over to Freddy with a smirk. They're far enough away from civilization that anything they do here shouldn't alert anyone. Hopefully.

Billy manages to get them inside easy enough, chains don't stand a chance when it comes to super strength, and Freddy informs him that they're gonna be doing power tests and recording them tobpost online. Billy is, truthfully, hesitant to put the videos on YouTube like Freddy wants because it seems like a stupid idea to show off these abilities to literally the entire world. He relents, though, that this will be a good way to have people be able to recognize him as a hero, later on down the road, and this agrees to let Freeman put them out into the ether.

They sit inside the building for a while, lining up what tests they want to do and how many times they want to attempt each before going to the next.

The first test is his favorite, mostly because it's not really a test so much as the goofing off. Its just Freddy throwing the books they stole earlier while he shoots them with his lightning, laughing each time one explodes. That's it. He supposes it could be considered aiming practice but that takes the enjoyment out of destroying school property.

They blow up all the books quickly enough and soon, they're outside testing his strength. More specifically, how much strength he can transfer to just one finger. Billy sets up an old barrel on top of a frozen curb and, crouching low while sticking a hand out, flicks the metal. He wasn't attempting to send it launching into the wall thirty feet in front of him, honestly the flick shouldn't of had that much power behind it but, hey, he supposes for not knowing what the Hell he's doing, it's not a bad first try. They do this for well on thirty minutes before moving on when they keep getting the same results no matter what they try.

Wandering around the outside of the warehouse brings them to a skate ramp. It looks like its seen better days but it's perfect for an attempt at flight. He sets himself up on one side and, after getting a thumbs up from Freddy, runs down the ran and uses the opposite side as a springboard of sorts to gain more air. It doesn't go well because he's landing on his back, on the ground, and wheezing.

He suggests they get back inside but Freddy wants to test something, he's not entirely sure what, that includes a stick he found on the ground and Billy just standing there. It ends up just obliterating the wood into a bunch of little shards but it makes them both laugh. They don't end up recording that one, just because they're trying to keep Freddy's face off the internet so he doesn't get targeted.

After that is him attempting to use heat vision, or Laser Eyes as Billy likes to call it because it sounds cooler. He's on the verge of bursting a vein in his neck when he decides to cheat a little by using his fingers. Unfortunately, he's caught and they scrap that power to test at another time. Lame.

More wandering leads them back inside where Billy finds an axe and, of course, his first instinct is to use it on himself. He ends up just snapping the head of the axe off when it hits his skin, much to Freddys disappointment and his relief. Thank God for immunity to literally everything or he'd be down an entire hand.

Somehow, someway, Freddy talks him into attempting to teleport. It's a reasonable argument; if he can't fly, maybe he can just teleport to his destination. Teleporting is cooler than flying, and faster, but he genuinely hopes he gains the power of flight later, if only to shove that in Supermans face. What he's not expecting is for the box hes crouching in to be set on fire by Freddy and as soon as hes escaped, he storms after the now screaming and begging boy. The only good that came from that is he knows he has Fire Immunity and Freddy is sporting a bruise the size of his fist on his bicep.

It's just after school let's out by the time they upload all the videos and make their way back outside, trying to think of more powers to test, when Freddy asks if hes more powerful than a locomotive. Billy wheezes out a laugh at the old timey saying but Freddy brushes it off and asks if he can leap buildings in a single bound.

That shuts him up.

They make their way into the city and find the tallest building. Billy is nervous about attempting this because everything before hadn't been as dangerous as launching himself a few hundred feet in the air. Aside from the fire thing. And the axe thing, but he's not including those. He takes a step back and makes for a running start but he's stopped and has to try just jumping higher than the building. Honestly, whoever decided that a 'single bound' was the way to test this was an idiot. He ends up sending himself straight through the glass window on maybe the sixtieth or seventieth floor and screams with all the people hes just given heart attacks.

Once back on the ground level, the two run away and make for the mall. He shocked Freddy when he punched him earlier and discovered that the boys phone was fully charge afterwards so he figures, maybe running around the mall and charging up peoples electronics is the best thing to do with his time right now.

It's going great until he blows up a guys phone and they have to run away, once more.

Then he gets an idea. If he can short circuit a phone, maybe he can short circuit other things. Which ends them up in a park where he electrocutes a soda machine. It goes better than expected because it just starts shooting cans at them.

Billy realizes that was probably a bad idea, five minutes after the fact, because now they have to drink all these sodas. He was never one to back down from a challenge, though, so he immediately set to work downing the Dr. Good Times (which honestly were horrible in comparison to the name brand soda they were based on).

He had managed to get through more than half the pile before his stomach started hurting and, after briefly looking to Freddy who was still on his first can, bolted for the bathroom.

If his bladder wasn't about to explode, Billy might've bust a seam laughing at the man who screamed and ran from the bathroom when Billy transformed.

Which is exactly what him and Freddy did when he changed back to his hero form and heard the loud, frantic screams once more.

Thirty minutes later finds him outside a plain white building with a brazen neon sign hanging off the side.

Despite his own protests, he climbed the stairs to the strip club and made his way inside, glancing over his shoulder at the video recorder in hand teenager who was now giving him a thumbs up and a stupid grin.

Five minutes later found him back outside with a bowl of hot wings and a wide eyed expression that he was sure Freddy would tease him about later.


End file.
